U.S. patent number 10,086,282 [Application Number 11/382,252] was granted by the patent office on 2018-10-02 for tracking device for use in obtaining information for controlling game program execution.
This patent grant is currently assigned to SONY INTERACTIVE ENTERTAINMENT INC.. The grantee listed for this patent is Xiaodong Mao, Richard L. Marks, Gary M. Zalewski. Invention is credited to Xiaodong Mao, Richard L. Marks, Gary M. Zalewski.
United States Patent |
10,086,282 |
Mao , et al. |
October 2, 2018 |
Tracking device for use in obtaining information for controlling
game program execution
Abstract
A tracking device for use in obtaining information for
controlling an execution of a game program by a processor for
enabling an interactive game to be played by a user and related
apparatus are disclosed.
Inventors: |
Mao; Xiaodong (Foster City,
CA), Marks; Richard L. (Foster City, CA), Zalewski; Gary
M. (Oakland, CA) |
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Mao; Xiaodong
Marks; Richard L.
Zalewski; Gary M. |
Foster City
Foster City
Oakland |
CA
CA
CA |
US
US
US |
|
|
Assignee: |
SONY INTERACTIVE ENTERTAINMENT
INC. (Tokyo, JP)
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Family
ID: |
37493648 |
Appl.
No.: |
11/382,252 |
Filed: |
May 8, 2006 |
Prior Publication Data
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Document
Identifier |
Publication Date |
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US 20060274032 A1 |
Dec 7, 2006 |
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Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
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Filing Date |
Patent Number |
Issue Date |
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10207677 |
Jul 27, 2002 |
7102615 |
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10650409 |
Aug 27, 2003 |
7613310 |
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10663236 |
Sep 15, 2003 |
7883415 |
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10759782 |
Jan 16, 2004 |
7623115 |
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10820469 |
Apr 7, 2004 |
7970147 |
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11301673 |
Dec 12, 2005 |
7646372 |
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11381729 |
May 4, 2006 |
7809145 |
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11381728 |
May 4, 2006 |
7545926 |
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11381725 |
May 4, 2006 |
7783061 |
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11381727 |
May 4, 2006 |
7697700 |
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11381724 |
May 4, 2006 |
8073157 |
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11381721 |
May 4, 2006 |
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11382031 |
May 6, 2006 |
7918733 |
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11382032 |
May 6, 2006 |
7850526 |
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11382033 |
May 6, 2006 |
8686939 |
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11382035 |
May 6, 2006 |
8797260 |
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11382036 |
May 6, 2006 |
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11382041 |
May 7, 2006 |
7352359 |
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May 6, 2006 |
7352358 |
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11382040 |
May 7, 2006 |
7391409 |
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May 6, 2006 |
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May 6, 2006 |
8313380 |
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11382043 |
May 7, 2006 |
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11382039 |
May 7, 2006 |
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60718145 |
Sep 15, 2005 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A63F
13/428 (20140902); A63F 13/212 (20140902); A63F
13/211 (20140902); A63F 13/06 (20130101); G01P
15/00 (20130101); A63F 2300/1081 (20130101); A63F
2300/6045 (20130101); A63F 2300/105 (20130101); G01P
2015/0805 (20130101); A63F 13/213 (20140902); A63F
2300/1087 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
A63F
13/428 (20140101); A63F 13/212 (20140101); A63F
13/20 (20140101); G01P 15/00 (20060101); A63F
13/213 (20140101); A63F 13/211 (20140101); G01P
15/08 (20060101) |
Field of
Search: |
;345/158 ;463/36-39
;73/510 |
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WO |
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Primary Examiner: Clarke, Jr.; Robert T
Attorney, Agent or Firm: JDA Patent Isenberg; Joshua
Pullman; Robert
Parent Case Text
CLAIM OF PRIORITY
This application also claims benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent
Application No. 60/718,145, entitled "AUDIO, VIDEO, SIMULATION, AND
USER INTERFACE PARADIGMS", filed Sep. 15, 2005, which is hereby
incorporated by reference.
This application is a continuation in part (CIP) of U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 10/207,677, entitled, "MAN-MACHINE INTERFACE
USING A DEFORMABLE DEVICE", filed on Jul. 27, 2002; U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 10/650,409, entitled, "AUDIO INPUT SYSTEM",
filed on Aug. 27, 2003; U.S. patent application Ser. No.
10/663,236, entitled "METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ADJUSTING A VIEW OF
A SCENE BEING DISPLAYED ACCORDING TO TRACKED HEAD MOTION", filed on
Sep. 15, 2003; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/759,782,
entitled "METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR LIGHT INPUT DEVICE", filed on
Jan. 16, 2004; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/820,469,
entitled "METHOD AND APPARATUS TO DETECT AND REMOVE AUDIO
DISTURBANCES", filed on Apr. 7, 2004; and U.S. patent application
Ser. No. 11/301,673, entitled "METHOD FOR USING RELATIVE HEAD AND
HAND POSITIONS TO ENABLE A POINTING INTERFACE VIA CAMERA TRACKING",
filed on Dec. 12, 2005, all of which are hereby incorporated by
reference.
This application is also a continuation in part (CIP) of U.S.
patent application Ser. No. 11/381,729, to Xiao Dong Mao, entitled
ULTRA SMALL MICROPHONE ARRAY, filed on May 4, 2006, application
Ser. No. 11/381,728, to Xiao Dong Mao, entitled ECHO AND NOISE
CANCELLATION, filed on May 4, 2006, U.S. patent application Ser.
No. 11/381,725, to Xiao Dong Mao, entitled "METHODS AND APPARATUS
FOR TARGETED SOUND DETECTION", filed on May 4, 2006, U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 11/381,727, to Xiao Dong Mao, entitled "NOISE
REMOVAL FOR ELECTRONIC DEVICE WITH FAR FIELD MICROPHONE ON
CONSOLE", filed on May 4, 2006, U.S. patent application Ser. No.
11/381,724, to Xiao Dong Mao, entitled "METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR
TARGETED SOUND DETECTION AND CHARACTERIZATION", filed on May 4,
2006, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/381,721, to Xiao Dong
Mao, entitled "SELECTIVE SOUND SOURCE LISTENING IN CONJUNCTION WITH
COMPUTER INTERACTIVE PROCESSING", filed on May 4, 2006; all of
which are hereby incorporated by reference.
This application is also a continuation in part (CIP) of:
co-pending application Ser. No. 11/418,988, to Xiao Dong Mao,
entitled "METHODS AND APPARATUSES FOR ADJUSTING A LISTENING AREA
FOR CAPTURING SOUNDS", filed on May 4, 2006; co-pending application
Ser. No. 11/418,989, to Xiao Dong Mao, entitled "METHODS AND
APPARATUSES FOR CAPTURING AN AUDIO SIGNAL BASED ON VISUAL IMAGE",
filed on May 4, 2006; co-pending application Ser. No. 11/429,047,
to Xiao Dong Mao, entitled "METHODS AND APPARATUSES FOR CAPTURING
AN AUDIO SIGNAL BASED ON A LOCATION OF THE SIGNAL", filed on May 4,
2006; co-pending application Ser. No. 11/429,133, to Richard Marks
et al., entitled "SELECTIVE SOUND SOURCE LISTENING IN CONJUNCTION
WITH COMPUTER INTERACTIVE PROCESSING", filed on May 4, 2006; and
co-pending application Ser. No. 11/429,414, to Richard Marks et
al., entitled "Computer Image and Audio Processing of Intensity and
Input Devices for Interfacing With A Computer Program", filed on
May 4, 2006, all of the entire disclosures of which are
incorporated herein by reference.
This application is also a continuation in part (CIP) of U.S.
patent application Ser. No. 11/382,031, entitled "MULTI-INPUT GAME
CONTROL MIXER", filed on May 6, 2006; U.S. patent application Ser.
No. 11/382,032, entitled "SYSTEM FOR TRACKING USER MANIPULATIONS
WITHIN AN ENVIRONMENT", filed on May 6, 2006; U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 11/382,033, entitled "SYSTEM, METHOD, AND
APPARATUS FOR THREE-DIMENSIONAL INPUT CONTROL", filed on May 6,
2006; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/382,035, entitled
"INERTIALLY TRACKABLE HAND-HELD CONTROLLER", filed on May 6, 2006;
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/382,036, entitled "METHOD AND
SYSTEM FOR APPLYING GEARING EFFECTS TO VISUAL TRACKING", filed on
May 6, 2006; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/382,041, entitled
"METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR APPLYING GEARING EFFECTS TO INERTIAL
TRACKING", filed on May 7, 2006; U.S. patent application Ser. No.
11/382,038, entitled "METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR APPLYING GEARING
EFFECTS TO ACOUSTICAL TRACKING", filed on May 6, 2006; U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 11/382,040, entitled "METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR
APPLYING GEARING EFFECTS TO MULTI-CHANNEL MIXED INPUT", filed on
May 7, 2006; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/382,034, entitled
"SCHEME FOR DETECTING AND TRACKING USER MANIPULATION OF A GAME
CONTROLLER BODY", filed on May 6, 2006; U.S. patent application
Ser. No. 11/382,037, entitled "SCHEME FOR TRANSLATING MOVEMENTS OF
A HAND-HELD CONTROLLER INTO INPUTS FOR A SYSTEM", filed on May 6,
2006; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/382,043, entitled
"DETECTABLE AND TRACKABLE HAND-HELD CONTROLLER", filed on May 7,
2006; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/382,039, entitled "METHOD
FOR MAPPING MOVEMENTS OF A HAND-HELD CONTROLLER TO GAME COMMANDS",
filed on May 7, 2006; U.S. Design patent application Ser. No.
29/259,349, entitled "CONTROLLER WITH INFRARED PORT", filed on May
6, 2006; U.S. Design patent application Ser. No. 29/259,350,
entitled "CONTROLLER WITH TRACKING SENSORS", filed on May 6, 2006;
U.S. Patent Application No. 60/798,031, entitled "DYNAMIC TARGET
INTERFACE", filed on May 6, 2006; and U.S. Design patent
application Ser. No. 29/259,348, filed on May 6, 2006; all of which
are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their
entireties.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is also related to co-pending U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 1/430,594, to Gary Zalewski and Riley R.
Russell, entitled "Profile Detection", filed on the same day as
this application, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated
herein by reference.
This application is also related to co-pending U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 11/430,593, to Gary Zalewski and Riley R.
Russell, entitled "Using Audio/Visual Environment To Select Ads On
Game Platform", filed on the same day as this application, the
entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
This application is also related to co-pending U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 11/400,997, filed on Apr. 10, 2006, to Larsen
and Chen, entitled "System And Method For Obtaining User
Information From Voices", the entire disclosure of which is
incorporated herein by reference.
This application is also related to co-pending U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 11/382,259, to Gary Zalewski et al., entitled
"Method and apparatus for use in determining lack of user activity
in relation to a system", filed on the same day as this
application, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein
by reference.
This application is also related to co-pending U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 11/382,258, to Gary Zalewski et al., entitled
"Method and apparatus for use in determining an activity level of a
user in relation to a system", filed on the same day as this
application, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein
by reference.
This application is also related to co-pending U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 11/382,251, to Gary Zalewski et al., entitled
"Hand-held controller having detectable elements for tracking
purposes", filed on the same day as this application, the entire
disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
This application is also related to co-pending U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 11/382,256, entitled "TRACKING DEVICE WITH
SOUND EMITTER FOR USE IN OBTAINING INFORMATION FOR CONTROLLING GAME
PROGRAM EXECUTION", filed on the same day as this application, the
entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
This application is also related to co-pending U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 11/382,250, entitled "OBTAINING INPUT FOR
CONTROLLING EXECUTION OF A GAME PROGRAM", filed on the same day as
this application, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated
herein by reference.
This application is also related to co-pending U.S. Design patent
application Ser. No. 29/246,744, entitled "VIDEO GAME CONTROLLER
FRONT FACE", filed on the same day as this application, the entire
disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
This application is also related to co-pending U.S. Design patent
application Ser. No. 29/246,743, entitled "VIDEO GAME CONTROLLER",
filed on the same day as this application, the entire disclosure of
which is incorporated herein by reference.
This application is also related to co-pending U.S. Design patent
application Ser. No. 29/246,767, entitled "VIDEO GAME CONTROLLER",
filed on the same day as this application, the entire disclosure of
which is incorporated herein by reference.
This application is also related to co-pending U.S. Design patent
application Ser. No. 29/246,763, entitled "VIDEO GAME CONTROLLER",
filed on the same day as this application, the entire disclosure of
which is incorporated herein by reference.
This application is also related to co-pending U.S. Design patent
application Ser. No. 29/246,759, entitled "ERGONOMIC GAME
CONTROLLER DEVICE WITH LEDS AND OPTICAL PORTS", filed on the same
day as this application, the entire disclosure of which is
incorporated herein by reference.
This application is also related to co-pending U.S. Design patent
application Ser. No. 29/246,765, entitled "GAME CONTROLLER DEVICE
WITH LEDS AND OPTICAL PORTS", filed on the same day as this
application, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein
by reference.
This application is also related to co-pending U.S. Design patent
application Ser. No. 29/246,765, entitled "DESIGN FOR OPTICAL GAME
CONTROLLER INTERFACE", filed on the same day as this application,
the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by
reference.
This application is also related to co-pending U.S. Design patent
application Ser. No. 29/246,766, entitled "DUAL GRIP GAME CONTROL
DEVICE WITH LEDS AND OPTICAL PORTS", filed on the same day as this
application, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein
by reference.
This application is also related to co-pending U.S. Design patent
application Ser. No. 29/246,764, entitled "GAME INTERFACE DEVICE
WITH LEDS AND OPTICAL PORTS", filed on the same day as this
application, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein
by reference.
This application is also related to co-pending U.S. Design patent
application Ser. No. 29/246,762, entitled "ERGONOMIC GAME INTERFACE
DEVICE WITH LEDS AND OPTICAL PORTS", filed on the same day as this
application, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein
by reference.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A tracking device comprising: an inertial sensor unit mountable
to a body of a game controller, wherein the inertial sensor unit is
operable to produce information usable by a processor for
quantifying a movement of the body through space, wherein the
information is usable by the processor for controlling execution of
a game program, wherein the inertial sensor unit includes (i) a
single mass elastically coupled to a frame for translational and
rotational movement relative to the frame with respect to each of
two or more different axes; and (ii) two or more displacement
sensors, wherein each of the two or more displacement sensors are
operable to generate a displacement signal related to a
displacement of the single mass relative to the frame, wherein the
displacement sensors are positioned such that a first combination
of displacement signals from the two or more displacement sensors
can be analyzed by the processor or another processor to determine
an angle of rotation of the frame with respect to one of the two or
more different axes and a second combination of displacement
signals from the two or more displacement sensors can be analyzed
by the processor or another processor to determine a motion of the
frame with respect to the same one or a different one of the two or
more different axes; and a visible light source mountable to the
body of the game controller and configured to be detected by an
image capture unit coupled to the processor, wherein a position of
the visible light source detected by the image capture unit is used
by the processor or another processor to correct a drift in the
information provided to the processor from the inertial sensor.
2. The tracking device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the game
controller includes at least one input device assembled with the
body of the game controller, wherein the input device is
manipulable by a user to register an input from the user.
3. The tracking device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the body of
the game controller is mountable to a user's body.
4. The tracking device as claimed in claim 1 or 3, wherein the
information usable by a processor for quantifying a movement of the
body through space includes information quantifying a first
component of the movement of the body of the game controller along
a first axis.
5. The tracking device as claimed in claim 4, wherein the
information usable by a processor for quantifying a movement of the
body through space includes information quantifying a second
component of the movement along a second axis orthogonal to the
first axis.
6. The tracking device as claimed in claim 5, wherein the
information usable by a processor for quantifying a movement of the
body through space includes information quantifying a third
component of the movement along a third axis orthogonal to the
first and second axes.
7. The tracking device as claimed in claim 4, 5, or 6, wherein the
inertial sensor unit includes at least one accelerometer.
8. The tracking device as claimed in claim 4, 5, or 6, wherein the
inertial sensor unit includes at least one mechanical
gyroscope.
9. The tracking device as claimed in claim 8, wherein the inertial
sensor unit includes at least one laser gyroscope.
10. The tracking device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the
information usable by a processor for quantifying a movement of the
body through space includes information quantifying the movement of
the body of the game controller in at least three degrees of
freedom.
11. The tracking device as claimed in claim 10, wherein the three
degrees of freedom include pitch, yaw and roll.
12. The tracking device as claimed in claim 11, wherein the three
degrees of freedom include an x-axis, a y-axis, and a z-axis, each
of the x-axis, y-axis and the z-axis being orthogonal with respect
to each other of the x-axis, y-axis, and z-axis.
13. The tracking device as claimed in claim 12, wherein the
inertial sensor unit is operable to quantify the movement in six
degrees of freedom, the six degrees of freedom including the three
degrees of freedom and pitch, yaw and roll.
14. The tracking device as claimed in any of claims 4, 5, 6, 10,
11, 12, and 13, the tracking device being further operable to
obtain a series of samples representative of acceleration of the
body along at least one axis at different points in time from the
information produced by the inertial sensor.
15. The tracking device as claimed in claim 14, further comprising
the processor, wherein the processor is operable to determine a
velocity of the body using the series of samples.
16. The tracking device as claimed in claim 15, wherein the
processor is operable to determine the velocity by integrating
acceleration values obtained from the series of samples over an
interval of time.
17. The tracking device as claimed in claim 14, wherein the
processor is operable to determine a displacement of the body in
space by first integrating acceleration values obtained from the
series of samples over an interval of time and then integrating a
result of the first integrating over the interval of time.
18. The tracking device as claimed in claim 17, wherein the
processor is operable to determine the displacement in relation to
a prior-determined position to determine a present position of the
body in space.
19. An apparatus including the tracking device as claimed in claim
1, the apparatus further comprising: the processor, wherein the
processor is configured to execute a program to provide an
interactive game playable by the user in accordance with input
obtained by processing the information produced by the inertial
sensor unit.
20. The tracking device as claimed in claim 1 or 2, further
comprising a communications interface operable to conduct digital
communications with at least one of the processor, the game
controller or both the processor and the game controller.
21. The tracking device as claimed in claim 20, wherein the
communications interface includes a universal asynchronous receiver
transmitter ("UART").
22. The tracking device as claimed in claim 21, wherein the UART is
operable to perform at least one of receiving a control signal for
controlling an operation of the tracking device, or for
transmitting a signal from the tracking device for communication
with another device.
23. The tracking device as claimed in claim 20 or 21, wherein the
communications interface includes a universal serial bus ("USB")
controller.
24. The tracking device as claimed in claim 23, wherein the USB
controller is operable to perform at least one of receiving a
control signal for controlling an operation of the tracking device,
or for transmitting a signal from the tracking device for
communication with another device.
25. The apparatus as claimed in claim 19, wherein the processor is
operable to determine a velocity of the body using a series of
samples.
26. The apparatus as claimed in claim 25, wherein the processor is
operable to determine the velocity by integrating acceleration
values obtained from the series of samples over an interval of
time.
27. The apparatus as claimed in claim 19, wherein the processor is
operable to determine a displacement of the body in space by first
integrating acceleration values obtained from a series of samples
over an interval of time and then integrating a result of the first
integrating.
28. The apparatus as claimed in claim 19, the processor is operable
to determine a position of the body in space by determining the
displacement in relation to a previously determined position.
29. A game controller, comprising: a body; at least one input
device assembled with the body, the input device manipulable by a
user to register an input from the user; an inertial sensor unit
mounted to the body, wherein the inertial sensor unit is operable
to produce information for quantifying a movement of said body
through space, wherein the inertial sensor unit includes (i) a
single mass elastically coupled to a frame for translational and
rotational movement relative to the frame with respect to each of
two or more different axes; and (ii) two or more displacement
sensors, wherein each of the two or more displacement sensors is
operable to generate a displacement signal related to a
displacement of the single mass relative to the frame, wherein the
displacement sensors are positioned such that a first combination
of displacement signals from the two or more displacement sensors
can be analyzed by a processor to determine an angle of rotation of
the frame with respect to one of the two or more different axes and
a second combination of displacement signals from the two or more
displacement sensors can be analyzed by the processor or another
processor to determine a motion of the frame with respect to the
same one or a different one of the two or more different axes; and
a visible light source mounted to the body of the game controller
and configured to be detected by an image capture unit, wherein a
position of the visible light source detected by the image capture
unit is used by the processor or another processor to correct for a
drift in the determination of position and/or angle of rotation of
the game controller.
30. A method for tracking a controller of a video game system,
comprising: generating one or more signals from an inertial sensor
unit mounted to the controller for the video game system, wherein
the inertial sensor unit includes (i) a single mass elastically
coupled to a frame for translational and rotational movement
relative to the frame with respect to each of two or more different
axes; and (ii) two or more displacement sensors, wherein each of
the two or more displacement sensors is operable to generate
corresponding displacement signals related to a displacement of the
single mass relative to the frame, wherein the displacement sensors
are positioned such that a first combination of displacement
signals from the two or more displacement sensors can be analyzed
by a processor to determine an angle of rotation of the frame with
respect to one of the two or more different axes and a second
combination of displacement signals from the two or more
displacement sensors can be analyzed by the processor or another
processor to determine a motion of the frame with respect to the
same one or a different one of the two or more different axes;
analyzing with the processor or another processor the corresponding
displacement signals to identify the first or second combination of
displacement signals and determine position and/or angle of
rotation information for the controller with respect to the two or
more different axes; correcting with the processor or another
processor a drift in the determination of position and/or angle of
rotation of the controller by detecting a position of a visible
light source mounted to the controller with an image capture unit;
and utilizing the position and/or angle of rotation information
during play of a video game on the video game system.
31. A method for use in providing input to a system, comprising the
steps of: generating one or more signals from an inertial sensor
unit mounted to a controller for the system, wherein the inertial
sensor unit includes (i) a single mass elastically coupled to a
frame for translational and rotational movement relative to the
frame with respect to each of two or more different axes; and (ii)
two or more displacement sensors, wherein each of the two or more
displacement sensors is operable to generate a signal related to a
displacement of the single mass relative to the frame, wherein the
displacement sensors are positioned such that they produce
particular combinations of signals that can be analyzed by a
processor to determine an angle of rotation and a motion of the
frame with respect to one of the two or more different axes;
analyzing displacement sensor signals from the two or more
displacement sensors to determine position and angle of rotation
information for the controller with respect to one of the two or
more different axes; correcting with the processor or another
processor a drift in the determination of position and/or angle of
rotation of the controller by detecting with an image capture unit
a position of a visible light source mounted to the controller;
comparing the determined position and angle of rotation information
with predetermined position information associated with one or more
commands; and changing a state of the system if the determined
position and/or angle of rotation information matches predetermined
position information for a command of the one or more commands.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to computer entertainment
systems, and more specifically to a user's manipulation of a
controller for such computer entertainment systems.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Computer entertainment systems typically include a hand-held
controller, game controller, or other controller. A user or player
uses the controller to send commands or other instructions to the
entertainment system to control a video game or other simulation
being played. For example, the controller may be provided with a
manipulator which is operated by the user, such as a joy stick. The
manipulated variable of the joy stick is converted from an analog
value into a digital value, which is sent to the game machine main
frame. The controller may also be provided with buttons that can be
operated by the user.
It is with respect to these and other background information
factors that the present invention has evolved.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The teachings of the present invention can be readily understood by
considering the following detailed description in conjunction with
the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is a pictorial diagram illustrating a video game system that
operates in accordance with an embodiment of the present
invention;
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a controller made in accordance
with an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 3A is a three-dimensional schematic diagram illustrating an
accelerometer that may be used in a controller according to an
embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 3B is a cross-sectional schematic diagram illustrating the
accelerometer of FIG. 3A in a state of rotation about a pitch or
roll axis;
FIG. 3C is a cross-sectional schematic diagram illustrating the
accelerometer of FIG. 3A in a state of translational
acceleration;
FIG. 3D is a top plan view schematic diagram illustrating the
accelerometer of FIG. 3A in a state of rotational acceleration
about a yaw axis;
FIG. 3E is a top plan view schematic diagram illustrating the
accelerometer of FIG. 3A in a state of rotational acceleration
about a yaw axis;
FIG. 4 is a three-dimensional schematic diagram illustrating
correction of an orientation dependent zero-point accelerometer
signal in accordance with an embodiment of the present
invention;
FIG. 5A is a block diagram of a portion of the video game system of
FIG. 1.
FIG. 5B is a flow diagram of a method for tracking a controller of
a video game system according to an embodiment of the present
invention;
FIG. 5C is a flow diagram illustrating a method for utilizing
position and/or orientation information during game play on a video
game system according to an embodiment of the present
invention.
FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a video game system
according to an embodiment of the present invention; and
FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a cell processor implementation of the
video game system according to an embodiment of the present
invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE SPECIFIC EMBODIMENTS
Although the following detailed description contains many specific
details for the purposes of illustration, anyone of ordinary skill
in the art will appreciate that many variations and alterations to
the following details are within the scope of the invention.
Accordingly, the exemplary embodiments of the invention described
below are set forth without any loss of generality to, and without
imposing limitations upon, the claimed invention.
Various embodiments of the methods, apparatus, schemes and systems
described herein provide for the detection, capture and tracking of
the movements, motions and/or manipulations of the entire
controller body itself by the user. The detected movements, motions
and/or manipulations of the entire controller body by the user may
be used as additional commands to control various aspects of the
game or other simulation being played.
Detecting and tracking a user's manipulations of a game controller
body may be implemented in different ways. For example, in some
embodiments an inertial sensor, such as an accelerometer or
gyroscope, can be used with the computer entertainment system to
detect motions of the hand-held controller body and transfer them
into actions in a game. The inertial sensor can be used to detect
many different types of motions of the controller, such as for
example up and down movements, twisting movements, side to side
movements, jerking movements, wand-like motions, plunging motions,
etc. Such motions may correspond to various commands such that the
motions are transferred into actions in a game.
Detecting and tracking the user's manipulations of a game
controller body can be used to implement many different types of
games, simulations, etc., that allow the user to, for example,
engage in a sword or lightsaber fight, use a wand to trace the
shape of items, engage in many different types of sporting events,
engage in on-screen fights or other encounters, etc.
Referring to FIG. 1, there is illustrated a system 100 that
operates in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
As illustrated, a computer entertainment console 102 may be coupled
to a television or other video display 104 to display the images of
the video game or other simulation thereon. The game or other
simulation may be stored on a DVD, CD, flash memory, USB memory, or
other memory media 106 that is inserted into the console 102. A
user or player 108 manipulates a game controller 110 to control the
video game or other simulation. As seen in FIG. 2, the game
controller 110 includes an inertial sensor 112 that produces
signals in response to the position, motion, orientation or change
in orientation of the game controller 110. In addition to the
inertial sensor, the game controller 110 may include conventional
control input devices, e.g., joysticks 111, buttons 113, R1, L1,
and the like.
During operation, the user 108 physically moves the controller 110.
For example, the controller 110 may be moved in any direction by
the user 108, such as up, down, to one side, to the other side,
twisted, rolled, shaken, jerked, plunged, etc. These movements of
the controller 110 itself may be detected and captured by a video
image capturing device 114 by way of tracking through analysis of
signals from the inertial sensor 112 in a manner described
below.
Referring again to FIG. 1, the system 100 may optionally include a
camera or other video image capturing device 114, which may be
positioned so that the controller 110 is within the camera's field
of view 116. Analysis of images from the image capturing device 114
may be used in conjunction with analysis of data from the inertial
sensor 112. As shown in FIG. 2, the controller may optionally be
equipped with light sources such as light emitting diodes (LEDs)
202, 204, 206, 208 to facilitate tracking by video analysis.
Analysis of such video images for the purpose of tracking the
controller 110 are described, e.g., in U.S. patent application Ser.
No. 11/382,034, entitled "SCHEME FOR DETECTING AND TRACKING USER
MANIPULATION OF A GAME CONTROLLER BODY", which is incorporated
herein by reference. The controller 110 may include a microphone
array 118 and the controller 110 may also include an acoustic
signal generator 210 (e.g., a speaker) to provide a source of sound
to facilitate acoustic tracking of the controller 110 with the
microphone array 118 and appropriate acoustic signal processing,
e.g., as described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/381,724,
which is incorporated herein by reference.
In general, signals from the inertial sensor 112 are used to
generate position and orientation data for the controller 110. Such
data may be used to calculate many physical aspects of the movement
of the controller 110, such as for example its acceleration and
velocity along any axis, its tilt, pitch, yaw, roll, as well as any
telemetry points of the controller 110. As used herein, telemetry
generally refers to remote measurement and reporting of information
of interest to a system or to the system's designer or
operator.
The ability to detect and track the movements of the controller 110
makes it possible to determine whether any predefined movements of
the controller 110 are performed. That is, certain movement
patterns or gestures of the controller 110 may be predefined and
used as input commands for the game or other simulation. For
example, a plunging downward gesture of the controller 110 may be
defined as one command, a twisting gesture of the controller 110
may be defined as another command, a shaking gesture of the
controller 110 may be defined as another command, and so on. In
this way the manner in which the user 108 physically moves the
controller 110 is used as another input for controlling the game,
which provides a more stimulating and entertaining experience for
the user.
By way of example and without limitation, the inertial sensor 112
may be an accelerometer. FIG. 3A depicts an example of an
accelerometer 300 in the form of a simple mass 302 elastically
coupled at four points to a frame 304, e.g., by springs 306, 308,
310, 312. Pitch and roll axes (indicated by X and Y, respectively)
lie in a plane that intersects the frame. A yaw axis Z is oriented
perpendicular to the plane containing the pitch axis X and the roll
axis Y. The frame 304 may be mounted to the controller 110 in any
suitable fashion. As the frame 304 (and the joystick controller
110) accelerates and/or rotates the mass 302 may displace relative
to the frame 304 and the springs 306, 208, 310, 312 may elongate or
compress in a way that depends on the amount and direction of
translational and/or rotational acceleration and/or the angle of
pitch and/or roll and/or yaw. The displacement and of the mass 302
and/or compression or elongation of the springs 306, 308, 310, 312
may be sensed, e.g., with appropriate displacement sensors 314,
316, 318, 320 and converted to signals that depend in known or
determinable way on the amount acceleration of pitch and/or
roll.
There are a number of different ways to track the position of the
mass and/or or the forces exerted on it, including resistive strain
gauge material, photonic sensors, magnetic sensors, hall-effect
devices, piezoelectric devices, capacitive sensors, and the like.
Embodiments of the invention may include any number and type or
combination of types of sensors. By way of example, and without
limitation, the displacement sensors 314, 316, 318, 320 may be gap
closing electrodes placed above the mass 302. A capacitance between
the mass and each electrode changes as the position of the mass
changes relative to each electrode. Each electrode may be connected
to a circuit that produce a signal related to the capacitance (and
therefore to the proximity) of the mass 302 relative to the
electrode. In addition, the springs 306, 308, 310, 312 may include
resistive strain gauge sensors that produce signals that are
related to the compression or elongation of the springs. The
displacement sensors 314, 316, 318, 320 may be positioned such that
a first combination of displacement signals from the two or more
displacement sensors can be analyzed to determine an orientation of
the frame with respect to one of the two or more different axes and
a second combination of displacement signals from the two or more
displacement sensors can be analyzed to determine a motion of the
frame with respect to the same one or a different one of the two or
more different axes
In some embodiments, the frame 304 may be gimbal mounted to the
controller 110 so that the accelerometer 300 maintains a fixed
orientation with respect to the pitch and/or roll and/or yaw axes.
In such a manner, the controller axes X, Y, Z may be directly
mapped to corresponding axes in real space without having to take
into account a tilting of the controller axes with respect to the
real space coordinate axes.
FIGS. 3B-3D illustrate examples of different elongation and
compressions for the springs 306, 308, 310, 312 under different
conditions of acceleration and/or rotation. Specifically, FIG. 3B
depicts a situation wherein the frame 304 has been rotated about
the Y axis. Due to the force of gravity acting the mass 302, the
springs 306, 310 are elongated and the mass 302 is brought closer
to sensors 314, 318 and further away from sensors 316, 320.
Rotation about the Y (roll) axis in the opposite sense would
similarly elongate the springs 306, 310, but would bring the mass
closer to sensors 316, 320 and further from sensors 314, 318.
Similarly, rotation about the X (pitch) axis could elongate springs
308, 312 and bring the mass closer to sensors 314, 316 and further
from sensors 318, 320, depending on the direction of rotation.
FIG. 3C depicts a situation in which the frame 304 has been
accelerated sharply downwards (as indicated by the arrows) while
remaining level. In this situation all four springs 306, 308, 310,
312 elongate and the mass is brought closer to all four sensors
314, 316, 318, 320. In FIG. 3D the frame 304 is accelerated to the
left (as indicated by the arrow) while remaining level. In this
situation, springs 306, 308, and 312 elongate while spring 310 is
compressed. The mass 302 moves away from sensors 314, 318 and
closer to sensors 316, 320. FIG. 3D depicts a situation in which
the frame 304 has been given an angular acceleration about the Z
(yaw) axis produces an elongation of all four springs 306, 308,
310, 312 and moves the mass 302 away from all four sensors 314,
316, 318, 320. As may be seen from FIGS. 3B-3E, different motions
and/or orientations of the frame 304 therefore produce particular
combinations of signals that may be analyzed to determine the
orientation and/or motion of the frame 304 (and the controller
110).
In the absence of external forces acting on the mass 302 the
displacement of the mass 302 from a rest position along the Z axis
is roughly proportional to the amount of acceleration along the Z
axis. The sensors 314, 316, 318, 320 produce signals that are
proportional to the displacement of the mass 302 and are,
therefore, proportional to the acceleration of the frame 304 (and
controller 110) along the Z axis. In a similar fashion, signals
from the sensors may be used to deduce acceleration along the X and
Y axes. It is noted that, in the force of gravity may act on the
mass 302 and the sensors 314, 316, 318, 320 may produce non-zero
signals. For example in a rest state, with no pitch or roll applied
to the joystick controller, the Z axis may be aligned with the
vertical axis (as determined by the force of gravity). Gravity may
displace the mass 302, from a position it would otherwise have
assumed in the absence of gravity. As a result the displacement
sensors produce some non-zero signal V.sub.0, which is referred to
herein as a "zero-point" acceleration signal. The zero-point
acceleration signal V.sub.0 is typically subtracted from the
accelerometer signal V before analyzing the raw signals from the
sensors 314, 316, 318, 320.
If the frame 304 (and the controller 110) remains in the same
orientation with respect to pitch and roll the zero-point
acceleration signal V.sub.0 is constant. However, the zero-point
acceleration signal V.sub.0 may be dependent on the amount of
rotation about the pitch and roll axes. Embodiments of the present
invention may take into account the effects of pitch and roll on
the zero-point acceleration signal V.sub.0. For example, FIG. 4
illustrates the situation with respect to a single axis
accelerometer 400 having a mass 402 constrained to move in a tube
404 along a tube axis Z. A spring 406 connects the mass 402 to an
end-cap of the tube 404. A sensor 408, e.g., a capacitance sensor
as described above. If the tube axis Z is tilted (as shown in
phantom) with respect to a vertical direction Z' by an angle
.theta. due to pitch and roll of the tube 404, a "rotated"
zero-point acceleration signal V.sub.0' may be expected to be
related to V.sub.0 and .theta. as: V.sub.0'=V.sub.0 cos
.theta..
Note that in the extreme case of .theta.=90 degrees,
V.sub.0'=0.
The angle .theta. generally depends on the angles of pitch and
roll. These may be determined from signals from separate sensors. A
unit vector z directed along the tube axis Z may be constructed
from known absolute values of pitch and roll relative to a known
initial orientation, e.g., one in which the accelerometer axis is
aligned with a unit vector z directed along the vertical axis. It
is noted that the initial orientation may be any orientation of the
joystick controller that produces a stable signal from the
accelerometer 400. A dot product between the unit vectors z and z'
gives the cosine of the angle .theta. between them. This dot
product may be multiplied by the zero-point signal V.sub.0 to
provide the desired correction factor, which may then be subtracted
from the acceleration signal obtained from the sensor 408.
It is noted that in embodiments of the present sensor various types
of inertial sensor devices may be used to provide information on
6-degrees of freedom (e.g., X, Y and Z translation and rotation
about X, Y and Z axes). Examples of suitable inertial sensors for
providing information on 6-degrees of freedom include
accelerometers of the type shown in FIG. 3A, one or more single
axis accelerometers, mechanical gyroscopes, ring laser gyroscopes
or combinations of two or more of these.
Signals from the sensor may be analyzed to determine the motion
and/or orientation of the controller during play of a video game
according to an inventive method. Such a method may be implemented
as a series of processor executable program code instructions
stored in a processor readable medium and executed on a digital
processor. For example, as depicted in FIG. 5A, the video game
system 100 may include on the console 102 a processor 502. The
processor may be any suitable digital processor unit, e.g., a
microprocessor of a type commonly used in video game consoles. The
processor may implement an inertial analyzer 504 through execution
of processor readable instructions. A portion of the instructions
may be stored in a memory 506. Alternatively, the inertial analyzer
504 may be implemented in hardware, e.g., as an application
specific integrated circuit (ASIC). Such analyzer hardware may be
located on the controller 110 or on the console 102 or may be
remotely located elsewhere. In hardware implementations, the
analyzer 504 may be programmable in response to external signals
e.g., from the processor 502 or some other remotely located source,
e.g., connected by USB cable, wireless connection, or over a
network.
The inertial analyzer 504 may include or implement instructions
that analyze the signals generated by the inertial sensor 112 and
utilize information regarding position and/or orientation of the
controller 110. For example, as shown in the flow diagram 510 of
FIG. 5B signals may be generated by the inertial sensor 112 as
indicated at block 512. The inertial sensor signals may be analyzed
to determine information regarding the position and/or orientation
of the controller 110 as indicated at block 514. The position and
or orientation information may be utilized during play of a video
game with the system 100 as indicated at block 516.
In certain embodiments, the position and/or orientation information
may be used in relation to gestures made by the user 108 during
game play. As indicated in the flow diagram 520 of FIG. 5C, a path
of the controller 110 may be tracked using the position and/or
orientation information as indicated at block 522. By way of
example, and without limitation, the path may include a set of
points representing a position of the center of mass of the
controller with respect to some system of coordinates. Each
position point may be represented by one or more coordinates, e.g.,
X, Y and Z coordinates in a Cartesian coordinate system. A time may
be associated with each point on the path so that both the shape of
the path and the progress of the controller along the path may be
monitored. In addition, each point in the set may have associated
with it data representing an orientation of the controller, e.g.,
one or more angles of rotation of the controller about its center
of mass. Furthermore, each point on the path may have associated
with it values of velocity and acceleration of the center of mass
of the controller and rates of angular rotation and angular
acceleration of the controller about its center of mass.
As indicated at block 524, the tracked path may be compared to one
or more stored gestures 508 corresponding to known paths and/or
pre-recorded gestures that are relevant to the context of the video
game being played. The analyzer 504 may be configured to recognize
a user or process audio authenticated gestures, etc. For example, a
user may be identified by an the analyzer 504 through a gesture and
that a gesture may be specific to a user. Such a specific gestures
may be recorded and included among the stored gestures 508 stored
in memory 506. The recordation process may optionally store audio
generated during recordation of a gesture. The sensed environment
is sampled into a multi-channel analyzer and processed. The
processor may reference gesture models to determine and
authenticate and/or identify a user or objects based on voice or
acoustic patterns and to a high degree of accuracy and
performance.
As indicated in FIG. 5A, the gestures may be stored in the memory
506. Examples of gestures include, but are not limited to throwing
an object such as a ball, swinging an object such as a bat or golf
club, pumping hand pump, opening or closing a door or window,
turning steering wheel or other vehicle control, martial arts moves
such as punches, sanding movements, wax on wax off, paint the
house, shakes, rattles, rolls, football pitches, turning knob
movements, 3D MOUSE movements, scrolling movements, movements with
known profiles, any recordable movement, movements along any vector
back and forth i.e. pump the tire but at some arbitrary orientation
in space, movements along a path, movements having precise stop and
start times, any time based user manipulation that can be recorded,
tracked and repeated within the noise floor, splines, and the like.
Each of these gestures may be pre-recorded from path data and
stored as a time-based model. Comparison of the path and stored
gestures may start with an assumption of a steady state if the path
deviates from a steady state the path can be compared to the stored
gestures by a process of elimination. If at block 526 there is no
match, the analyzer 504 may continue tracking the path of the
controller 110 at block 522. If there is a sufficient match between
the path (or a portion thereof) and a stored gesture the state of
the game may be changed as indicated at 528. Changes of state of
the game may include, but are not limited to interrupts, sending
control signals, changing variables, etc.
Here is one example of this can occur. Upon determining that the
controller 110 has left a steady state the path the analyzer 504
tracks movement of the controller 110. As long as the path of the
controller 110 complies with a path defined in the stored gestures
508, those gestures are possible "hits". If the path of the
controller 110 deviates (within the noise tolerance setting) from
any stored gesture 508, that gesture model is removed from the hit
list. Each gesture reference model includes a time-base in which
the gesture is recorded. The analyzer 504 compares the controller
path data to the stored gestures 508 at the appropriate time index.
Occurrence of a steady state condition resets the clock. When
deviating from steady state (i.e. when movements are tracked
outside of the noise threshold) the hit list is populated with all
potential gesture models. The clock is started and movements of the
controller are compared against the hit list. Again, the comparison
is a walk through time. If any gesture in the hit list reaches the
end of the gesture then it is a hit.
In certain embodiments, the analyzer 504 may inform a game program
when certain events occur. Examples of such events include the
following:
INTERRUPT ZERO-ACCELERATION POINT REACHED (X AND/OR Y AN/OR Z AXIS)
In certain game situations the analyzer 504 may notify or interrupt
routine within the game program when acceleration of the controller
changes at the inflection points. For example, the user 108 may use
the controller 110 to control a game avatar representing a
quarterback in a football simulation game. The analyzer 504 may
track the controller (representing the football) via a path
generated from signals from the inertial sensor 112. A particular
change in acceleration of the controller 110 may signal release of
the football. At this point, the analyzer may trigger another
routine within the program (e.g., a physics simulation package) to
simulate the trajectory of the football based on the position,
and/or velocity and/or orientation of the controller at the point
of release.
INTERRUPT NEW GESTURE RECOGNIZED
In addition, the analyzer 502 may be configured by one or more
inputs. Examples of such inputs include, but are not limited to:
SET NOISE LEVEL (X, Y or Z AXIS) The noise level may be a reference
tolerance used when analyzing jitter of the user's hands in the
game. SET SAMPLING RATE. As used herein, the sampling rate may
refer to how often the analyzer 502 samples the signals from the
inertial sensor. The sampling rate may be set to oversample or
average the signal. SET GEARING. As used herein gearing generally
refers to the ratio of controller movements to movements occurring
within the game. Examples of such "gearing" in the context of
control of a video game may be found in U.S. patent application
Ser. No. 11/382,040, filed May 7, 2006, which is incorporated
herein by reference. SET MAPPING CHAIN. As used herein, a mapping
chain refers to a map of gesture models. The gesture model maps can
be made for a specific input Channel (e.g., for path data generated
from inertial sensor signals only) or for a hybrid Channel formed
in a mixer unit. Three input Channels may be served by two or more
different Analyzers that are similar to the inertial analyzer 504.
Specifically, these may include: the inertial analyzer 504 as
described herein, a video analyzer as described e.g., in U.S.
patent application Ser. No. 11/382,034, entitled SCHEME FOR
DETECTING AND TRACKING USER MANIPULATION OF A GAME CONTROLLER BODY,
which is incorporated herein by reference, and an Acoustic
Analyzer, e.g., as described in U.S. patent application Ser. No.
11/381,721, which is incorporated herein by reference. The
Analyzers can be configured with a mapping chain. Mapping chains
can be swapped out by the game during gameplay as can settings to
the Analyzer and to the Mixer. Referring to again to FIG. 5B, block
512, those of skill in the art will recognize that there are
numerous ways to generate signals from the inertial sensor 112. A
few examples, among others have been described above with respect
to FIGS. 3A-3E. Referring to block 504, there are numerous ways to
analyze the sensor signals generated in block 502 to obtain
information relating to the position and/or orientation of the
controller 110. By way of example and without limitation the
position and/or orientation information may include, but is not
limited to information regarding the following parameters
individually or in any combination: CONTROLLER ORIENTATION.
Orientation of the controller 110 may be expressed in terms of
pitch, roll or yaw angle with respect to some reference
orientation, e.g., in radians). Rates of change of controller
orientation (e.g., angular velocities or angular accelerations) may
also be included in the position and/or orientation information.
Where the inertial sensor 112 includes a gyroscopic sensor
controller orientation information may be obtained directly in the
form of one or more output values that are proportional to angles
of pitch, roll or yaw. CONTROLLER POSITION (e.g., Cartesian
coordinates X,Y,Z of the controller 110 in some frame of reference)
CONTROLLER X-AXIS VELOCITY CONTROLLER Y-AXIS VELOCITY CONTROLLER
Z-AXIS VELOCITY CONTROLLER X-AXIS ACCELERATION CONTROLLER Y-AXIS
ACCELERATION CONTROLLER Z-AXIS ACCELERATION It is noted that with
respect to position, velocity and acceleration the position and/or
orientation information may be expressed in terms of coordinate
systems other than Cartesian. For example, cylindrical or spherical
coordinates may be used for position, velocity and acceleration.
Acceleration information with respect to the X, Y and Z axes may be
obtained directly from an accelerometer type sensor, e.g., as
described above with respect to FIGS. 3A-3E. The X, Y and Z
accelerations may be integrated with respect to time from some
initial instant to determine changes in X, Y and Z velocities.
These velocities may be computed by adding the velocity changes to
known values of the X-, Y-, and Z-velocities at the initial instant
in time. The X, Y and Z velocities may be integrated with respect
to time to determine X-, Y-, and Z-displacements of the controller.
The X-, Y-, and Z-positions may be determined by adding the
displacements to known X-, Y-, and Z-, positions at the initial
instant. STEADY STATE Y/N--This particular information indicates
whether the controller is in a steady state, which may be defined
as any position, which may be subject to change too. In a preferred
embodiment the steady state position may be one wherein the
controller is held in a more or less level orientation at a height
roughly even with a user's waist. TIME SINCE LAST STEADY STATE
generally refers to data related to how long a period of time has
passed since a steady state (as referenced above) was last
detected. That determination of time may, as previously noted, be
calculated in real-time, processor cycles, or sampling periods. The
Time Since Last Steady State data time may be important with regard
to resetting tracking of a controller with regard to an initial
point to ensure accuracy of character or object mapping in a game
environment. This data may also be important with regard to
determining available actions/gestures that might be subsequently
executed in a game environment (both exclusively and inclusively).
LAST GESTURE RECOGNIZED generally refers to the last gesture
recognized either by a gesture recognition engine (which may be
implemented in hardware or software. The identification of a last
gesture recognized may be important with respect to the fact that a
previous gesture may be related to the possible gestures that may
be subsequently recognized or some other action that takes place in
the game environment. TIME LAST GESTURE RECOGNIZED
The above outputs can be sampled at any time by a game program or
software.
According to embodiments of the present invention, a video game
system and method of the type described above may be implemented as
depicted in FIG. 6. A video game system 600 may include a processor
601 and a memory 602 (e.g., RAM, DRAM, ROM, and the like). In
addition, the video game system 600 may have multiple processors
601 if parallel processing is to be implemented. The memory 602
includes data and a program 604, which may include portions that
are configured as described above. Specifically, the memory 602 may
include inertial signal data 606 which may include stored
controller path information as described above. The memory 602 may
also contain stored gesture data 608, e.g., data representing one
or more gestures relevant to the program 604.
The video game system 600 may also include well-known support
functions 610, such as input/output (I/O) elements 611, power
supplies (P/S) 612, a clock (CLK) 613 and cache 614. The apparatus
600 may optionally include a mass storage device 615 such as a disk
drive, CD-ROM drive, tape drive, or the like to store programs
and/or data. The controller may also optionally include a display
unit 616 and user interface unit 618 to facilitate interaction
between the video game system 600 and a user. The display unit 616
may be in the form of a cathode ray tube (CRT) or flat panel screen
that displays text, numerals, graphical symbols or images. The user
interface 618 may include a keyboard, mouse, joystick, light pen or
other device. In addition, the user interface 618 may include a
microphone, video camera or other signal transducing device to
provide for direct capture of a signal to be analyzed. The
processor 601, memory 602 and other components of the video game
system 600 may exchange signals (e.g., code instructions and data)
with each other via a system bus 620 as shown in FIG. 6.
A microphone array 622 may be coupled to the video game system 600
through the I/O functions 611. The microphone array may include
between about 2 and about 8 microphones, preferably about 4
microphones with neighboring microphones separated by a distance of
less than about 4 centimeters, preferably between about 1
centimeter and about 2 centimeters. Preferably, the microphones in
the array 622 are omni-directional microphones. An optional image
capture unit 623 (e.g., a digital camera) may be coupled to the
apparatus 600 through the I/O functions 611. One or more pointing
actuators 625 that are mechanically coupled to the camera may
exchange signals with the processor 601 via the I/O functions
611.
As used herein, the term I/O generally refers to any program,
operation or device that transfers data to or from the video game
system 600 and to or from a peripheral device. Every data transfer
may be regarded as an output from one device and an input into
another. Peripheral devices include input-only devices, such as
keyboards and mouses, output-only devices, such as printers as well
as devices such as a writable CD-ROM that can act as both an input
and an output device. The term "peripheral device" includes
external devices, such as a mouse, keyboard, printer, monitor,
microphone, game controller, camera, external Zip drive or scanner
as well as internal devices, such as a CD-ROM drive, CD-R drive or
internal modem or other peripheral such as a flash memory
reader/writer, hard drive.
In certain embodiments of the invention, the video game system 600
may be a video game unit, which may include a controller 630
coupled to the processor via a communications interface, such as
the I/O functions 611 either through wires (e.g., a USB controller
or universal asynchronous receiver transmitter (UART)) or
wirelessly. In some embodiments the joystick controller 630 may be
mountable to a user's body. The controller 630 may have analog
joystick controls 631 and conventional buttons 633 that provide
control signals commonly used during playing of video games. Such
video games may be implemented as processor readable data and/or
instructions from the program 604 which may be stored in the memory
602 or other processor readable medium such as one associated with
the mass storage device 615.
The joystick controls 631 may generally be configured so that
moving a control stick left or right signals movement along the X
axis, and moving it forward (up) or back (down) signals movement
along the Y axis. In joysticks that are configured for
three-dimensional movement, twisting the stick left
(counter-clockwise) or right (clockwise) may signal movement along
the Z axis. These three axis--X Y and Z--are often referred to as
roll, pitch, and yaw, respectively, particularly in relation to an
aircraft.
In addition to conventional features, a tracking device
incorporated into the controller 630 may include one or more
inertial sensor units 632 having a single mass, which may provide
position and/or orientation information to the processor 601 via
inertial signals, e.g., displacement signals as described above
with respect to FIGS. 3A-3E. Orientation information may include
angular information such as a tilt, roll or yaw of the controller
630. By way of example, the inertial sensors 632 may include any
number and/or combination of accelerometers, gyroscopes or tilt
sensors. In a preferred embodiment, the inertial sensors 632
include tilt sensors adapted to sense orientation of the joystick
controller with respect to tilt and roll axes, a first
accelerometer adapted to sense acceleration along a yaw axis and a
second accelerometer adapted to sense angular acceleration with
respect to the yaw axis. An accelerometer may be implemented, e.g.,
as a MEMS device including a mass mounted by one or more springs
with sensors for sensing displacement of the mass relative to one
or more directions. Signals from the sensors that are dependent on
the displacement of the mass may be used to determine an
acceleration of the joystick controller 630. Such techniques may be
implemented by instructions from the game program 604 which may be
stored in the memory 602 and executed by the processor 601.
By way of example an accelerometer suitable as the inertial sensor
632 may be a simple mass elastically coupled at three or four
points to a frame, e.g., by springs. Pitch and roll axes lie in a
plane that intersects the frame, which is mounted to the joystick
controller 630. As the frame (and the joystick controller 630)
rotates about pitch and roll axes the mass will displace under the
influence of gravity and the springs will elongate or compress in a
way that depends on the angle of pitch and/or roll. The
displacement and of the mass can be sensed and converted to a
signal that is dependent on the amount of pitch and/or roll.
Angular acceleration about the yaw axis or linear acceleration
along the yaw axis may also produce characteristic patterns of
compression and/or elongation of the springs or motion of the mass
that can be sensed and converted to signals that are dependent on
the amount of angular or linear acceleration. Such an accelerometer
device can measure tilt, roll angular acceleration about the yaw
axis and linear acceleration along the yaw axis by tracking
movement of the mass or compression and expansion forces of the
springs. There are a number of different ways to track the position
of the mass and/or or the forces exerted on it, including resistive
strain gauge material, photonic sensors, magnetic sensors,
hall-effect devices, piezoelectric devices, capacitive sensors, and
the like. In some embodiments, the inertial sensor 632 may be
removably mounted to a "body" of the joystick controller 630.
In addition, the joystick controller 630 may include one or more
light sources 634, such as light emitting diodes (LEDs). The light
sources 634 may be used to distinguish one controller from the
other. For example one or more LEDs can accomplish this by flashing
or holding an LED pattern code. By way of example, 5 LEDs can be
provided on the joystick controller 630 in a linear or
two-dimensional pattern. Although a linear array of LEDs is
preferred, the LEDs may alternatively, be arranged in a rectangular
pattern or an arcuate pattern to facilitate determination of an
image plane of the LED array when analyzing an image of the LED
pattern obtained by the image capture unit 623. Furthermore, the
LED pattern codes may also be used to determine the positioning of
the joystick controller 630 during game play. For instance, the
LEDs can assist in identifying tilt, yaw and roll of the
controllers. This detection pattern can assist in providing a
better user/feel in games, such as aircraft flying games, etc. The
image capture unit 623 may capture images containing the joystick
controller 630 and light sources 634. Analysis of such images can
determine the location and/or orientation of the joystick
controller. Such analysis may be implemented by the program 604
stored in the memory 602 and executed by the processor 601. To
facilitate capture of images of the light sources 634 by the image
capture unit 623, the light sources 634 may be placed on two or
more different sides of the joystick controller 630, e.g., on the
front and on the back (as shown in phantom). Such placement allows
the image capture unit 623 to obtain images of the light sources
634 for different orientations of the joystick controller 630
depending on how the joystick controller 630 is held by a user.
In addition the light sources 634 may provide telemetry signals to
the processor 601, e.g., in pulse code, amplitude modulation or
frequency modulation format. Such telemetry signals may indicate
which joystick buttons are being pressed and/or how hard such
buttons are being pressed. Telemetry signals may be encoded into
the optical signal, e.g., by pulse coding, pulse width modulation,
frequency modulation or light intensity (amplitude) modulation. The
processor 601 may decode the telemetry signal from the optical
signal and execute a game command in response to the decoded
telemetry signal. Telemetry signals may be decoded from analysis of
images of the joystick controller 630 obtained by the image capture
unit 623. Alternatively, the apparatus 600 may include a separate
optical sensor dedicated to receiving telemetry signals from the
lights sources 634. The use of LEDs in conjunction with determining
an intensity amount in interfacing with a computer program is
described, e.g., in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/429,414, to
Richard L. Marks et al., entitled "USE OF COMPUTER IMAGE AND AUDIO
PROCESSING IN DETERMINING AN INTENSITY AMOUNT WHEN INTERFACING WITH
A COMPUTER PROGRAM", filed May 4, 2006, which is incorporated
herein by reference in its entirety. In addition, analysis of
images containing the light sources 634 may be used for both
telemetry and determining the position and/or orientation of the
joystick controller 630. Such techniques may be implemented by
instructions of the program 604 which may be stored in the memory
602 and executed by the processor 601.
The processor 601 may use the inertial signals from the inertial
sensor 632 in conjunction with optical signals from light sources
634 detected by the image capture unit 623 and/or sound source
location and characterization information from acoustic signals
detected by the microphone array 622 to deduce information on the
location and/or orientation of the controller 630 and/or its user.
For example, "acoustic radar" sound source location and
characterization may be used in conjunction with the microphone
array 622 to track a moving voice while motion of the joystick
controller is independently tracked (through the inertial sensor
632 and or light sources 634). In acoustic radar select a
pre-calibrated listening zone is selected at runtime and sounds
originating from sources outside the pre-calibrated listening zone
are filtered out. The pre-calibrated listening zones may include a
listening zone that corresponds to a volume of focus or field of
view of the image capture unit 623. Examples of acoustic radar are
described in detail in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/381,724,
to Xiaodong Mao entitled "METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR TARGETED SOUND
DETECTION AND CHARACTERIZATION", filed May 4, 2006, which is
incorporated herein by reference. Any number of different
combinations of different modes of providing control signals to the
processor 601 may be used in conjunction with embodiments of the
present invention. Such techniques may be implemented by the
program 604 which may be stored in the memory 602 and executed by
the processor 601 and may optionally include one or more
instructions that direct the one or more processors to select a
pre-calibrated listening zone at runtime and filter out sounds
originating from sources outside the pre-calibrated listening zone.
The pre-calibrated listening zones may include a listening zone
that corresponds to a volume of focus or field of view of the image
capture unit 623.
The program 604 may optionally include one or more instructions
that direct the one or more processors to produce a discrete time
domain input signal x.sub.m(t) from microphones M.sub.0 . . .
M.sub.M, of the microphone array 622, determine a listening sector,
and use the listening sector in a semi-blind source separation to
select the finite impulse response filter coefficients to separate
out different sound sources from input signal x.sub.m(t). The
program 604 may also include instructions to apply one or more
fractional delays to selected input signals x.sub.m(t) other than
an input signal x.sub.0(t) from a reference microphone M.sub.0.
Each fractional delay may be selected to optimize a signal to noise
ratio of a discrete time domain output signal y(t) from the
microphone array. The fractional delays may be selected to such
that a signal from the reference microphone M.sub.0 is first in
time relative to signals from the other microphone(s) of the array.
The program 604 may also include instructions to introduce a
fractional time delay .DELTA. into an output signal y(t) of the
microphone array so that:
y(t+.alpha.)=x(t+.alpha.)*b.sub.0+x(t-1+.DELTA.)*b.sub.1+x(t-2+.DELTA.)*b-
.sub.2+ . . . +x(t-N+.DELTA.)b.sub.N, where .DELTA. is between zero
and .+-.1. Examples of such techniques are described in detail in
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/381,729, to Xiadong Mao,
entitled "ULTRA SMALL MICROPHONE ARRAY" filed May 4, 2006, the
entire disclosures of which are incorporated by reference.
The program 604 may include one or more instructions which, when
executed, cause the system 600 to select a pre-calibrated listening
sector that contains a source of sound. Such instructions may cause
the apparatus to determine whether a source of sound lies within an
initial sector or on a particular side of the initial sector. If
the source of sound does not lie within the default sector, the
instructions may, when executed, select a different sector on the
particular side of the default sector. The different sector may be
characterized by an attenuation of the input signals that is
closest to an optimum value. These instructions may, when executed,
calculate an attenuation of input signals from the microphone array
622 and the attenuation to an optimum value. The instructions may,
when executed, cause the apparatus 600 to determine a value of an
attenuation of the input signals for one or more sectors and select
a sector for which the attenuation is closest to an optimum value.
Examples of such a technique are described, e.g., in U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 11/381,725, to Xiadong Mao, entitled "METHODS
AND APPARATUS FOR TARGETED SOUND DETECTION" filed May 4, 2006, the
disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Signals from the inertial sensor 632 may provide part of a tracking
information input and signals generated from the image capture unit
623 from tracking the one or more light sources 634 may provide
another part of the tracking information input. By way of example,
and without limitation, such "mixed mode" signals may be used in a
football type video game in which a Quarterback pitches the ball to
the right after a head fake head movement to the left.
Specifically, a game player holding the controller 630 may turn his
head to the left and make a sound while making a pitch movement
swinging the controller out to the right like it was the football.
The microphone array 622 in conjunction with "acoustic radar"
program code can track the user's voice. The image capture unit 623
can track the motion of the user's head or track other commands
that do not require sound or use of the controller. The sensor 632
may track the motion of the joystick controller (representing the
football). The image capture unit 623 may also track the light
sources 634 on the controller 630. The user may release of the
"ball" upon reaching a certain amount and/or direction of
acceleration of the joystick controller 630 or upon a key command
triggered by pressing a button on the controller 630.
In certain embodiments of the present invention, an inertial
signal, e.g., from an accelerometer or gyroscope may be used to
determine a location of the controller 630. Specifically, an
acceleration signal from an accelerometer may be integrated once
with respect to time to determine a change in velocity and the
velocity may be integrated with respect to time to determine a
change in position. If values of the initial position and velocity
at some time are known then the absolute position may be determined
using these values and the changes in velocity and position.
Although position determination using an inertial sensor may be
made more quickly than using the image capture unit 623 and light
sources 634 the inertial sensor 632 may be subject to a type of
error known as "drift" in which errors that accumulate over time
can lead to a discrepancy D between the position of the joystick
630 calculated from the inertial signal (shown in phantom) and the
actual position of the joystick controller 630. Embodiments of the
present invention allow a number of ways to deal with such
errors.
For example, the drift may be cancelled out manually by re-setting
the initial position of the controller 630 to be equal to the
current calculated position. A user may use one or more of the
buttons on the controller 630 to trigger a command to re-set the
initial position. Alternatively, image-based drift may be
implemented by re-setting the current position to a position
determined from an image obtained from the image capture unit 623
as a reference. Such image-based drift compensation may be
implemented manually, e.g., when the user triggers one or more of
the buttons on the joystick controller 630. Alternatively,
image-based drift compensation may be implemented automatically,
e.g., at regular intervals of time or in response to game play.
Such techniques may be implemented by program code instructions 604
which may be stored in the memory 602 and executed by the processor
601.
In certain embodiments it may be desirable to compensate for
spurious data in the inertial sensor signal. For example the signal
from the inertial sensor 632 may be oversampled and a sliding
average may be computed from the oversampled signal to remove
spurious data from the inertial sensor signal. In some situations
it may be desirable to oversample the signal and reject a high
and/or low value from some subset of data points and compute the
sliding average from the remaining data points. Furthermore, other
data sampling and manipulation techniques may be used to adjust the
signal from the inertial sensor to remove or reduce the
significance of spurious data. The choice of technique may depend
on the nature of the signal, computations to be performed with the
signal, the nature of game play or some combination of two or more
of these. Such techniques may be implemented by instructions of the
program 604 which may be stored in the memory 602 and executed by
the processor 601.
The processor 601 may perform analysis of inertial signal data 606
as described above in response to the data 606 and program code
instructions of a program 604 stored and retrieved by the memory
602 and executed by the processor module 601. Code portions of the
program 604 may conform to any one of a number of different
programming languages such as Assembly, C++, JAVA or a number of
other languages. The processor module 601 forms a general-purpose
computer that becomes a specific purpose computer when executing
programs such as the program code 604. Although the program code
604 is described herein as being implemented in software and
executed upon a general purpose computer, those skilled in the art
will realize that the method of task management could alternatively
be implemented using hardware such as an application specific
integrated circuit (ASIC) or other hardware circuitry. As such, it
should be understood that embodiments of the invention can be
implemented, in whole or in part, in software, hardware or some
combination of both.
In one embodiment, among others, the program code 604 may include a
set of processor readable instructions that implement a method
having features in common with the method 510 of FIG. 5B and the
method 520 of FIG. 5C or some combination of two or more of these.
The program code 604 may generally include one or more instructions
that direct the one or more processors to analyze signals from the
inertial sensor 632 to generate position and/or orientation
information and utilize the information during play of a video
game.
The program code 604 may optionally include processor executable
instructions including one or more instructions which, when
executed cause the image capture unit 623 to monitor a field of
view in front of the image capture unit 623, identify one or more
of the light sources 634 within the field of view, detect a change
in light emitted from the light source(s) 634; and in response to
detecting the change, triggering an input command to the processor
601. The use of LEDs in conjunction with an image capture device to
trigger actions in a game controller is described e.g., in U.S.
patent application Ser. No. 10/759,782 to Richard L. Marks, filed
Jan. 16, 2004 and entitled: METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR LIGHT INPUT
DEVICE, which is incorporated herein by reference in its
entirety.
The program code 604 may optionally include processor executable
instructions including one or more instructions which, when
executed, use signals from the inertial sensor and signals
generated from the image capture unit from tracking the one or more
light sources as inputs to a game system, e.g., as described above.
The program code 604 may optionally include processor executable
instructions including one or more instructions which, when
executed compensate for drift in the inertial sensor 632.
Although embodiments of the present invention are described in
terms of examples related to a video game controller 630 games,
embodiments of the invention, including the system 600 may be used
on any user manipulated body, molded object, knob, structure, etc,
with inertial sensing capability and inertial sensor signal
transmission capability, wireless or otherwise.
By way of example, embodiments of the present invention may be
implemented on parallel processing systems. Such parallel
processing systems typically include two or more processor elements
that are configured to execute parts of a program in parallel using
separate processors. By way of example, and without limitation,
FIG. 7 illustrates a type of cell processor 700 according to an
embodiment of the present invention. The cell processor 700 may be
used as the processor 601 of FIG. 6 or the processor 502 of FIG.
5A. In the example depicted in FIG. 7, the cell processor 700
includes a main memory 702, power processor element (PPE) 704, and
a number of synergistic processor elements (SPEs) 706. In the
example depicted in FIG. 7, the cell processor 700 includes a
single PPE 704 and eight SPE 706. In such a configuration, seven of
the SPE 706 may be used for parallel processing and one may be
reserved as a back-up in case one of the other seven fails. A cell
processor may alternatively include multiple groups of PPEs (PPE
groups) and multiple groups of SPEs (SPE groups). In such a case,
hardware resources can be shared between units within a group.
However, the SPEs and PPEs must appear to software as independent
elements. As such, embodiments of the present invention are not
limited to use with the configuration shown in FIG. 7.
The main memory 702 typically includes both general-purpose and
nonvolatile storage, as well as special-purpose hardware registers
or arrays used for functions such as system configuration,
data-transfer synchronization, memory-mapped I/O, and I/O
subsystems. In embodiments of the present invention, a video game
program 703 may be resident in main memory 702. The video program
703 may include an analyzer configured as described with respect to
FIG. 5A, 5B or 5C above or some combination of these. The program
703 may run on the PPE. The program 703 may be divided up into
multiple signal processing tasks that can be executed on the SPEs
and/or PPE.
By way of example, the PPE 704 may be a 64-bit PowerPC Processor
Unit (PPU) with associated caches L1 and L2. The PPE 704 is a
general-purpose processing unit, which can access system management
resources (such as the memory-protection tables, for example).
Hardware resources may be mapped explicitly to a real address space
as seen by the PPE. Therefore, the PPE can address any of these
resources directly by using an appropriate effective address value.
A primary function of the PPE 704 is the management and allocation
of tasks for the SPEs 706 in the cell processor 700.
Although only a single PPE is shown in FIG. 7, some cell processor
implementations, such as cell broadband engine architecture (CBEA),
the cell processor 700 may have multiple PPEs organized into PPE
groups, of which there may be more than one. These PPE groups may
share access to the main memory 702. Furthermore the cell processor
700 may include two or more groups SPEs. The SPE groups may also
share access to the main memory 702. Such configurations are within
the scope of the present invention.
Each SPE 706 is includes a synergistic processor unit (SPU) and its
own local storage area LS. The local storage LS may include one or
more separate areas of memory storage, each one associated with a
specific SPU. Each SPU may be configured to only execute
instructions (including data load and data store operations) from
within its own associated local storage domain. In such a
configuration, data transfers between the local storage LS and
elsewhere in the cell processor 700 may be performed by issuing
direct memory access (DMA) commands from the memory flow controller
(MFC) to transfer data to or from the local storage domain (of the
individual SPE). The SPUs are less complex computational units than
the PPE 704 in that they do not perform any system management
functions. The SPU generally have a single instruction, multiple
data (SIMD) capability and typically process data and initiate any
required data transfers (subject to access properties set up by the
PPE) in order to perform their allocated tasks. The purpose of the
SPU is to enable applications that require a higher computational
unit density and can effectively use the provided instruction set.
A significant number of SPEs in a system managed by the PPE 704
allow for cost-effective processing over a wide range of
applications.
Each SPE 706 may include a dedicated memory flow controller (MFC)
that includes an associated memory management unit that can hold
and process memory-protection and access-permission information.
The MFC provides the primary method for data transfer, protection,
and synchronization between main storage of the cell processor and
the local storage of an SPE. An MFC command describes the transfer
to be performed. Commands for transferring data are sometimes
referred to as MFC direct memory access (DMA) commands (or MFC DMA
commands).
Each MFC may support multiple DMA transfers at the same time and
can maintain and process multiple MFC commands. Each MFC DMA data
transfer command request may involve both a local storage address
(LSA) and an effective address (EA). The local storage address may
directly address only the local storage area of its associated SPE.
The effective address may have a more general application, e.g., it
may be able to reference main storage, including all the SPE local
storage areas, if they are aliased into the real address space.
To facilitate communication between the SPEs 706 and/or between the
SPEs 706 and the PPE 704, the SPEs 706 and PPE 704 may include
signal notification registers that are tied to signaling events.
The PPE 704 and SPEs 706 may be coupled by a star topology in which
the PPE 704 acts as a router to transmit messages to the SPEs 706.
Alternatively, each SPE 706 and the PPE 704 may have a one-way
signal notification register referred to as a mailbox. The mailbox
can be used by an SPE 706 to host operating system (OS)
synchronization.
The cell processor 700 may include an input/output (I/O) function
708 through which the cell processor 700 may interface with
peripheral devices, such as a microphone array 712 and optional
image capture unit 713 and a game controller 730. The game
controller unit may include an inertial sensor 732, and light
sources 734. In addition an Element Interconnect Bus 710 may
connect the various components listed above. Each SPE and the PPE
can access the bus 710 through a bus interface units BIU. The cell
processor 700 may also includes two controllers typically found in
a processor: a Memory Interface Controller MIC that controls the
flow of data between the bus 710 and the main memory 702, and a Bus
Interface Controller BIC, which controls the flow of data between
the I/O 708 and the bus 710. Although the requirements for the MIC,
BIC, BIUs and bus 710 may vary widely for different
implementations, those of skill in the art will be familiar their
functions and circuits for implementing them.
The cell processor 700 may also include an internal interrupt
controller IIC. The IIC component manages the priority of the
interrupts presented to the PPE. The IIC allows interrupts from the
other components the cell processor 700 to be handled without using
a main system interrupt controller. The IIC may be regarded as a
second level controller. The main system interrupt controller may
handle interrupts originating external to the cell processor.
In embodiments of the present invention, certain computations, such
as the fractional delays described above, may be performed in
parallel using the PPE 704 and/or one or more of the SPE 706. Each
fractional delay calculation may be run as one or more separate
tasks that different SPE 706 may take as they become available.
While the above is a complete description of the preferred
embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to use various
alternatives, modifications and equivalents. Therefore, the scope
of the present invention should be determined not with reference to
the above description but should, instead, be determined with
reference to the appended claims, along with their full scope of
equivalents. Any feature described herein, whether preferred or
not, may be combined with any other feature described herein,
whether preferred or not. In the claims that follow, the indefinite
article "A" or "An" refers to a quantity of one or more of the item
following the article, except where expressly stated otherwise. The
appended claims are not to be interpreted as including
means-plus-function limitations, unless such a limitation is
explicitly recited in a given claim using the phrase "means
for."
* * * * *
References